An Ever Present Shade
by diana2megr
Summary: He has a wife that he loves. She is engaged to his best friend. Will the shade of a life they shared in another time continue to pervade their present lives? AU, Alt. pair!
1. Prologue

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction by d2m (diana2megr@yahoo.com)

Disclaimer: Just imagine that the words that should be here Is here! ^^'

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An Ever Present Shade

By diana2megr

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The Prologue: Foreboding

Beneath dark eyelashes, he watched her still form. He knew her style. He knew her. She will act. Soon. Patience was not her strong suit. He was right. Her _ki_ flared sharply. The muscles in her forearm tensed. Instinctively, he gauged her attack. She was going for a downward slash… Never breaking the smile he had on since the fight started, it amused him even more to see her answering wild grin as he met her attack forcefully. 

Barely seen by the naked eye, he gave back a strong jab that she countered with an ingenious twirl and turn. Black silk ghostly brushed against his face. He whipped the wooden sword across in a classic form. She met it with her own.

The _dojo _rang with the sound of a pair of practice blades colliding with force. Minutes later, the sound of harsh breathing permeated the air. It wasn't him who was panting. The onslaught continued.

It was coming. He could feel it. The moment he was waiting for. Jumping back, he evaded a swift slash at the chest. She charged. Finally, he saw the opening he had been waiting for. In a blink of an eye, he changed from his defensive position to an active one. The wooden sword hissed in violent protest as he swiftly slid it down her blade. With a sudden twist, he simultaneously broke not only her hold over the blade, but also that of her feet with the floor.

Thump! It was over in an instant. The wooden bladeflew over to hit the wall and slide down the mat. Its owner was in a no less sorry situation.

He immediately reached down to his sparring partner. "Good practice. You alright, Kaoru?"

Kamiya Kaoru, his part time sparing partner and full time girlfriend, looked up. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with merriment. 

"Of course, Sou. Just wait and see, I'll beat you yet!" She chirped in an upbeat tone unchallenged by any other (excepting maybe for that small ball of energy of a recruit named Makimachi…) as she grabbed his open hand.

She had a good grip. It was a very strong clasp. Without breaking his smile, he pulled her up. She sweetly smiled at him as she innocently wiped off the sweat from her brows. She acted like she hadn't even tried to break his fingers, which were now a telltale tomato color.

He looked at his puffy hand, then back to the pleasantly humming woman who made it that way. "Well, I have a pleasant surprise for you."

"Hmm? What now, Sou?" She asked distractedly as she picked up her wooden blade. 

"I have some free time coming up and-"

"Really?" A huge grin split her face. "That's great! How about we go to-"

"London." He looked at her expectantly.

"Where?" Her response was immediate. Remarkably, her voice remained calm, but those flashing baby blues bellied the even tone. He gazed at those revealing eyes where a plethora of imprecations had gone nova. Disbelief. It was followed by anger, embarrassment and an assorted multitude of dark emotions, none of which reflected the even tiny little bit of gratitude he had been expecting. Scratch that. Why did he even think this was a good idea anyway? 

Her hands were now shaking with repressed feelings. Okita Souji immediately recognized the danger he was in. In his head, a bright red light flashed in time with the insistent racket of a red alert claxon. Figuratively. If he was to die he might as well have some fun out before he get beaten black and blue, violet and green, etc., etc. With a slight breath, he jumped into the line of fire.

"I thought you would be happy to go to London, Kaoru." He said blandly. Not a single tone revealed his apprehensions.

"London." Her voice was ice.

Yup, he was action guy. He was the man who jumped out of the pan and into the fire! His smile hadn't cracked yet, but beads of sweat began to appear in his forehead. Facing the infamous assassin _Battousai_ wasn't as fazing as Kaoru in a snitch.

He began to explain his reasoning, which seemed to have fled to the moon laughing hysterically. "I though it was time to meet them and-" 

"Meet?" She parroted harshly.

Her fingers were dead white, but he doggedly moved on to dig an even deeper grave for himself. 

"Yup! Are you really alright, Kaoru? You've just been repeating my words and-"

"Are you utterly out of your mind?" The last bit was a screech already.

It was the last none curse word he heard from her and even that was debatable as her voice resounded beyond the walls of the _dojo_. 

A few startled birds flew away from their perch in the old trees scattered around the yard. At the front gate a simple sign bearing the name, _Kamiya Kasshin Ryu_, tilted slightly. 

***

"That's a fair assessment." A light amusement underlined the usually stern man's tone. An inquiring eyebrow was even raised up as he took in his reminiscing companion's sorry condition as they walked down a nondescript corridor.

Okita let out a small sigh, but his smile remained unfazed. "I'm so glad I'm entertaining you, Saito-_san_. Here, I am pouring my heart out to you and-"

Saito lit up a slim rolled piece of paper filled with his favorite weed. "Sorry, Okita. That's just not my style. If I were to mercifully put you out of your misery, it would be a _katana_ that would be sticking out of your chest."

"That's cold, Saito-_san_! How could you say that to your favorite partner?" Okita gaily asked.

"Favorite?" Saito smirked. "Don't be cocky. You're just the only one I could stand out of this stinking collection of so called secret police!"

A smiling Okita shook his head in mock sadness. "How could you say such a thing about Japan's hope?"

Like one of those portent signs, a young woman hurrying down the corridor unexpectedly collided with a swashbuckling operative who had just strolled out of a conference room. Her long braid swayed back and forth like a demented monkey's tail as she apologized to the young man she had inconceivably ran over with her lithe form. He was still twitching when they passed by.

The older agent squashed the lit stick on a conveniently located ashtray. "If they're Japan's future, I'm immigrating."

Okita lightly patted Saito's shoulder in mock comfort. "Makimachi's just young. She'll be just fine in no time."

Saito snorted. "Kids like her shouldn't even be in this agency."

"Now, now. Not all agents can be just like you, Saito-_san_." Okita mischievously eyed the somber tall man. "I don't think there's anyway we can pass you off as a sweet, innocent schoolgirl type!"

Amber eyes steely glinted evilly as Saito replied in a sly tone. "There's always other ways."

"You can't mean? No!" Okita paled in an instant. "You're really evil! You promised never to talk about THAT ever again. As in never!"

"Hmph! Keep your pants on!" The older man lit another stick. "Its not my fault that those politicians make things too damn complicated."

The traumatized Okita muttered his own personal mantra. "Never! Never again! Never! Never!" 

He was lost in a bygone time.

***

A pair of azure blue eyes alighted on a beautiful couple leaning on the balcony above the dance hall. With a slight sigh, its owner turned to face her date. "Aren't they a cute couple?"

He laughed. "I think, we look far better, Kaoru!"

Kaoru laughed along with him. "Thank you. Still," she continued in a curious tone. "There's something about that woman."

"She's gorgeous, yes," he agreed. "BUT you're the most stunning woman in the room to me."

Kaoru raised an eyebrow at that. "Only in the room?"

"I don't think that girl could have eyes as vibrantly blue as yours." He magnanimously declared.

"Oh, and how did you know that she has blue eyes as well from this far off?" Kaoru teasingly asked.

"Don't be jealous, dear." He mirthfully asked as he twirled her across the dance floor.

Lost in the intricacy of the dance and the heady music, Kaoru forgot the couple that she sighted, but a pair of coal black eyes noted her.

***

Meanwhile in the balcony leaning over the dance floor, a petite woman whose long black hair had been gloriously swept up in an elegant coif sighed in resignation. "Why me?" 

Her companion, a tall man with glossy black hair swept back, except for four persistent locks that fell on his face haphazardly, smiled benignly. "But it fits you, Yui-_chan_."

'Yui' cutely leaned towards his companion's formal black suit. A strategically loosed lock slid sensually down a bare shoulder. "I will get you for this, Fujita-_san._"

"I'm sure you don't mean anything by that, Yui-_chan_. After all," Fujita whispered in a playful tone full of innuendo even as long fingers painstakingly fixed the loose lock back in place. To the rest of the world, they appeared to be nothing more than a pair of lovers in a sweet tete-a-tete "I don't think my WIFE would appreciate that, Yui-_chan."_

"Don't worry," Yui hissed back – cutely however. "I would rather die than mean anything that YOU did, Fujita-_san_."

"What a cruel woman you are, Yui-_chan_." Fujita sniped back just as sweetly.

"Why its all the better for a MAN like you, Fujita-_san_!" Yui poignantly drawled as she tauntingly poked her gown's matching Prussian blue fan against his sculpted chest. 

Fujita abruptly drew her close. "Its time." He whispered in her ear, concealing a frighteningly predatory smile that was on his face. 

Yui unknowingly pressed her scarlet lips tight. "Show time, huh?"

***

Okita shivered. "Never again!"

"Pipe down, Yui-_chan_! The operation sailed quite smoothly, didn't it?" A cunning smile spread across Saito's lips. He too remembered that operation very well. It was one of the most memorable nights of his life to see how well the slinky black gown fit the senior agent. "In fact, you should thank me for your chance meeting with the little _tanuki_."

"Smoothly? Thank you?" Okita asked incredulously. His voice rising at each word. His eyebrow did a disappearing act his righteous disbelief. "And stop calling me by that stupid alias! I almost made her hate me for life because of that."

"Such a pity, she didn't." Saito blandly replied.

Okita simply ignored the other man as he dissed his lover. As usual. "Thank _Kami_, Kaoru consented to listen to me afterwards!"

Saito blew a cloud of smoke at his face. "Get your mind off the clouds, Okita. I don't think that wall did anything evil to merit getting dented by your hard head."

"I'm not going to mindlessly walk towards a wall, Saito-_san_." Okita scrunched his nose, partly at disapproval and partly at the smell of nicotine and tar. "That's really not good for your health." 

Saito shrugged. "A lot of things aren't good for my health, Okita. Just like how well this fiasco is to yours." He pointedly eyed the younger man's badges of honor, i.e. scrapes courtesy of a rabid _tanuki._

Somehow the younger man was able to wince without breaking his smile. "Kaoru's just…enthusiastic."

"Enthusiastic?" Saito raised a disbelieving brow at him before continuing. "Unconceivable as it is, from what I have heard, she's even crazier than you. It's such a mind-boggling concept, but maybe you DO deserve each other; if just for your pathetic attempt to prevent the 'I told you so,' that you so deserve."

Okita raised both hands in mock surrender. "I swear I wasn't running interference this time, Saito-_san_."

Saito puffed out. "As I was saying a few hours earlier, this is one of your most stupid ideas to date. But no, as usual, you just brandished away all of my smart recommendations and plunged in head first without even a hard hat to cushion that stubborn skull you have."

Okita turned a smiling face to the older man, but a solemn aura radiated from him. "I don't think I could keep on lying to Kaoru, Saito-_san_."

Amber eyes narrowed. "Not all women are like my wife, Okita."

"Yes, I know. Tokio-_san_ is a unique woman. Still, I would like to think that I'd have a better chance if I tell her before things get too complicated." A dark aura surrounded his lithe figure.

"So when's the big day?" Saito asked in a sotto voice, deliberately changing the topic.

"Sometime during the London operation." Okita replied just as blandly. "If she says yes, will you be my best man?" 

"Of course, Okita." Saito didn't respond to the unvoiced alternative. He was damage control. He didn't think that he had to. It was part of the job.

"Thank you, Saito-_san_." If she says no, at least his partner will be there to patch him back into some semblance of sanity. 

This way, maybe, just maybe, he'll have a better chance.

They stopped before a door bearing a simple plaque. _Shinsen Gumi._

***

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Tsuzuku…


	2. Foreshadowing

A Rurouni Kenshin fanfiction by d2m (diana2megr@yahoo.com)

Disclaimer: Just imagine that the words that should be here IS here! ^^'

A/N: Ahh, my fic is going exactly where I want it to – incomprehensible! @@ Oh well, at least they got to London already. Now to set things up for the ops and… this is going to be a long one. Be warned!

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An Ever Present Shade

By diana2megr

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Part I : Foreshadowing

"Are you crazy?"

Okita smiled as he faced his companion, a fuming young woman currently tapping her feet in time with the rhythm of annoyance. "Do you really think so? That's the 28th time you've asked that!"

Kaoru felt her fingers involuntarily curl into a fist. Resolutely, she stretched it a finger at a time. "I will only stop asking that question when you begin to make sense again! Besides," a hard-suppressed smile turned up her twitching lips, "you are crazy to keep track of how many times I've said that!" 

He spoke in a tone too soft to hear. "Hmmm, I think so too for not asking earlier…"

"What was that?" She asked abstractedly, a strange sparkle in a window pane had caught her eye. Her curiosity always gets the better of her determined irritation. She may be angry with her boyfriend, but that doesn't mean she can't enjoy a vacation. Even if it were somewhere she'd rather not be.

"Do you really not want to meet…" He cleared his throat as tried to delicately ask her opinion. Deliberately, he placed a hand over her twitching fingers. "We don't have to if-"

She lightly rested a second hand over his. "No. You're right." She replied heavily, but her face was defiantly set. She looked him straight in the eye. "It's time to face… them. I'm just being silly. I can't ignore them forever."

The skin beneath his eyes crinkled with his trademark smile. "But one can try, right?"

She laughed. "Yes, that's true!" The disquiet motions of the other travelers caught her attention. "I think that's the exit!" She excitedly chattered. Her eyes seeking a new world beyond the busy airport. A respite from the memories she wished to avoid.

Eyes twinkling with amusement, he graciously lent his arm to her. Absently, she took to the gesture like a swan in the pond. In the timeless manner of another age, the native Japanese couple gracefully strolled out of a hulking monument of glass and concrete to meet the aforementioned 'them' under cloudy English skies.

***

A pair of violet orbs watched in dread reserved for facing skeletons in closets, a genteel couple who had just sauntered out of an endlessly gray building, except for where the glasses where and even those reflect an ash colored sky. "It can't be." He murmured incredulously as his eyes automatically latched at the sight of the man's gentle overtures and the obviously affectionate response of the woman with him. They were clearly in love.

"Kenshin," a strikingly pale young woman wearing a long gray overcoat gently nudged the bemused redhead from his contemplation. "I saw them already." She pointed out the two persons they were meeting that fine Sunday morning. It was a different pair from that which had caught his attention.

Himura Kenshin paled at the sight of this couple. When his wife informed him of their upcoming guests from Japan, he had absentmindedly agreed. He had felt ready for it. He thought it was time to face them already. It seemed that he had made a big mistake. He could only hope that it wouldn't blow up in his face this time around. Steeling himself for the coming confrontation, he finally faced his wife. 

"Aa, let's meet them, Tomoe." The Japanese couple forgotten in the face of an even greater exigency, he began to walk towards the meeting he had avoided for a long time. 

Tomoe just nodded in acquiescence, but a knowing look was carefully hidden behind a long ebony fringe. 

***

"Sou dear!" 

Her voice was unmistakable. Kaoru turned towards the source of a voice even as a part of her screamed to ran the other way with HER Sou in arm.

"Megumi-_san_! It has been a long time." Okita waved towards the beautiful woman who called out his name.

Megumi pouted. Playfully, she smacked his arm lightly. "I was beginning to think that you've forgotten me, you bad boy."

A blushing Okita scratched his head ruefully. "Of course not, Megumi-_san_. I'm really sorry for not keeping better contact."

In a flash, she was pressed to his side and whispering in his ear. "I'll give you a chance to make up for it by escorting me to a little celebration that I've been invited to tonight." 

"Pardon me, Dr. Megumi." Sarcasm at maximum, a fuming Kaoru quickly intervened. "I think you should consult me first before whisking away my boyfriend."

"Well, if it isn't the _tanuki_. You're still here? Why don't you go back to the forest where you belong? The only one I want here in London is my dear Sou." The other woman cattily replied, red lips prettily upturned in a pout. Her sniping words where belied by the genuine joy in her eyes at the inevitable (to her) meeting.

"Why you!" The kettle/Kaoru was not only blowing steam, but was frantically whistling as well. She saw red even as her hands casually curved into the shape of a person's neck, to be specific that of a certain foxy doctor's.

A deep tone full of mischief came from behind. "Quiet down, _jouchan_. The great Sagara Sanosuke has arrived to keep a certain _kitsune_ from gobbling Soushi here." 

"Sano, you're here!" Kaoru turned around with a joyful smile on her face.

"Sano, why are you here?" An annoyed Megumi asked the tall man with spiky brown hair who had suddenly popped up.

"Sano!" Okita merely squeaked in relief. "Thank God, you're here!"

"Yep, you poor mortals can relax now that the _Zanza _is here." Sano grinned, showing off a row of pearly whites.

"Idiot!" Kaoru gave him a quick smack with her bag before smothering him in a big hug. "I've missed you too, Sano." She murmured into his ear.

Sano patted her back. "Easy, _jouchan_. You wouldn't want to see a green-eyed monster _kitsune_, would ya?"

Megumi dramatically rolled her eyes at the comment. "Whoever would be jealous of a _tori-atama _and a _tanuki_?!" 

"I will!" A smiling Okita cheerfully replied with enthusiastic arm waving.

"Hiya, Sou, buddy!" Sano lugged a heavy arm around the smaller man. "Ya better be treating _jouchan _here right or else." 

"Or else you're going to get beaten by my dear Sou in dice?" Megumi shrewdly asked. A shapely eyebrow disappeared under a fringe of blue-black.

"Hey, I resent that!" Sano pointed a finger straight at Okita's face. "That's it, buddy. You and I are gonna be rolling dice tonight!"

Okita had his hands up already. "Um, don't I have a say in this?"

"No. Destination: Casino!" Sano punched the air in emphasis.

"Get your mitts off Sou, _baka tori-atama_!" Another swift bump in the head with her very handy handbag got Kaoru her expected result of a boyfriend freed from evil clutches. 

Megumi quickly grabbed the just released Okita. "He's going nowhere except to the party with me!"

"Help! Somebody, help me." Okita squeaked out in the resulting mad huddle for the football with his name.

Somehow, they were able to reach their destination – a modest duplex in the suburban area - in one piece.

***

After the noisy event dubbed 'dinner', peace finally descended in the Sagara household as its inhabitants retired for the night. 

The sound of light footsteps alerted an immediately alert Okita. 

"Sou?" Kaoru's softly spoken words wavered with her uncertainty.

Relaxing a bit, he opened the door to reveal a tousled head Kaoru. "What is it, Kaoru? Is something the matter?" Okita solicitously asked as he waved her in to the room. 

"I, I don't want you to think that, that…" Forlornly, she sighed before angrily speaking up. "Why is this so hard?"

He laughed. "It doesn't have to be, Kaoru." Gently, he lifted her chin up. "Tell me." His voice was hypnotic.

"Sou…" Kaoru bit her lip. Uncertainty's reign began to falter.

"I will always listen." He continued. His eyes darkened with unnamed emotions. He softly confessed. "For you, you are precious to me." 

Her cheeks colored brightly. Forgetting her natural shyness, she quickly hugged him. "I love you too, my dearest Sou." She murmured softly. Her words were a mere wisp of smoke in its tenderness. 

He frowned at the sound of heavy footsteps. Gently, he disengaged her from his arms. Motioning silence, he whispered to her. "Somebody's coming."

She giggled and straightened out her clothes. "Later then, Sou."

"Promise?" He asked with mischief in his eyes.

She playfully swapped his arm. "Get out of here already, will ya?"

"I thought this was my room." Okita stated with a smile.

Superciliously, she raised her nose up. Scrunching it a bit, she playfully derided him. "Hmph and here I thought you're a gentleman." 

Eyes twinkling, he leered. "See what thinking brings?" 

"Why, you!" She lightly hit his arm.

"Joking! Just joking, Kaoru_._" With a slight bow, he offered his arm to her. "Please allow me to walk you to your room, _mademoiselle._"

Kaoru laughingly took his arm. They left the room together. A light bantering was their joyous companion.

***

A pained whisper punctuated by soft sobs shimmered in the dark room. 

"Sou? Sou! Let me go! Sou!" 

Her throat was scratchy. Her eyes burned. How long has she been shouting? Crying? A hand, callused and rough, firmly grasped her arm. Yanking her. Parting her from him. With his steel-like vise, she couldn't reach him. 

"No! Leave me be!" 

Her cries fell on deaf ears. Her hand couldn't reach him. Couldn't touch him.

"Please…" His voice. It was so hard to hear his voice, which once rang as clear as a bell. It must be the noise. Yes, all the shouting and banging, the burning building collapsing, the horrible battle ongoing - it overwhelms everything else.

"… pro… mise."

He was choking. God, no. This can't be. He was gurgling in his own blood.

"No. No. No! SOU!"

The darkness choked her, but a bitter tone resounded in her ears as pure as snow in this blood-soaked era.

"I swear."

Darkness encompassed her. Utter emptiness. Bleak, suffocating and - the swaying curtain sifted a sliver of light. Sanity. She was sitting up a soft bed and the warmth of a heavy quilt surrounded her. The pastel colored walls filtered the cranky noise of the occasional passing car. The fragrant scent of blossoms lingered in the room. A vase full of assorted wild flowers in the bedside table was the evident culprit. She was… in London. There was no war. The acrid smoke, the blistering heat and the heavy sickly sweet scent of blood – it never was.

Perturbed, she stood up to close the open windows. She shivered in the embrace of the cool night breeze. White curtains caressed her pale cheeks. A single leaf, orange and crisp, homed in like a pigeon with a message to her open palm that was reaching for the window.

"Sou…" She softly whispered to the encompassing night, the silent witness to her sleep's tribulations.

"Such a nightmare," she confessed to the moon, all silvery white, a mere quarter of a whole. "Did I make a mistake tonight? Should I have refused?"

Her own still erratic heart bore testimony of its own. "Never. I love Sou. If not, I would never feel such fear for him." 

She felt peace with this. "Yes, it's only such a great fright 'coz I couldn't stand to lose him. My husband-to-be. My dear fiancé, Okita Soushi."

She absentmindedly crumpled the leaf in her hand. Unnoticed, its feather-light remains were scattered to the four winds. Like a sleepwalker, she returned to the bed. Slowly, she sank into the downy softness of the ample mattress. The night's terror forgotten, she fell asleep like a log.

***

"Wake up. We have an assignment, remember?" The causticity of his tone could have melted iron.

Fingers flying across the pad, Okita turned to face his grim partner. A wide smile was plastered on his congenial face and his big blue eyes were wide and sparkling with an inner joy. "I'm very awake, Saito-_san_." 

The other agent scoffed at his reply. "Really? I don't know that HQ needed a by-play of your proposal last night."

"What?" The younger man asked aghast. His dark eyes swiftly scanning, searching for a trace of his hand's betrayal, only to find – his report, plain, simple and straight to the point. "That's evil, Saito-_san!_ I didn't give you a such ribbing when you got married."

"No, that was worse." Saito dryly commented. "What has that got to do with now?" 

"That's what make its a sin." Okita nodded his head knowingly. He certainly couldn't be accused of delusions when it comes to their line of work. "I guess I'll have to kill you now. I'm sorry, Saito-_san_. It is our motto after all." His smiled widened at his partner's taunting.

Saito shook his head in mock regret. "Tsk, you didn't have to get yourself killed just to get out of marrying the raccoon. Not that I understood why you proposed to such a violent girl in the first place."

"Kaoru's not violent!" Okita protested. "She's… energetic. Healthy. That's good, right?"

"Ah, yes. Healthy and I married my wife for her healthy constitution too." Saito drolly replied.

Okita laughed at the sudden mental picture he had of the fashionably elegant Tokio Saito with a bodybuilder's musculature. "I wouldn't let Tokio- hear that. She might get the wrong impression!"

Amber eyes narrowed in grim speculation, but a touch of mirth swam in the golden depths. "If such reaches her ears, I know who to slice and dice for it." 

"Are you threatening me?" The smile on Okita's face didn't falter with the menace in the older man's tone.

"What do you think?" Saito abruptly lit a cigarette.

A beep interrupted their banter. Okita solemnly read the message. He faced his partner. "I think it's time to check up on our old - friend."

"Friend, huh?" Saito laughed. It was not a happy one.

After checking their equipment, they left the London branch.

***

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Tsuzuku…


End file.
